[Businessmtg] Response to GR Report

[Tori Sciacca]

TORI Hello;

TORI: I am participating in the discussion by responding to the Recommendations of the GEA Districting Task Force, reported by our GR Anne. 

Happy New Year Business meeting friends!

In December, our GEA (Global Electronic Area) had two presentations scheduled for GRs - I attended both.  The Districting Task Force  presented their recommendation for assigning districts.  There was a Q & A session after the presentation and now the GRs will attend the January 20th assembly to vote on the recommendation.

Note that this GEA leadership team (not the districting  thoughtforce or taskforce)  is approaching districting a step at a time, so voting on situations in front of us without a larger plan, this means If the recommendation below passes, we don't know what happens next, and if it fails, we start the discussion all over again with a new Task Force.


Recommendations of the GEA Districting Task Force

* All groups registered in the GEA, regardless of whether or not they have a GR, will be placed in districts.

TORI Same as ftf meetings. Many ftf meetings do not have GR’s

* Groups will be assigned to districts. Groups will not choose their district.

TORI Same as ftf meetings. Redistricting is possible, see pg 162 of our current service manual. 

* Districts will, whenever possible, consist of up to 20 groups.

TORI This is consistent with what I’ve experienced in 4 different Area’s.

* DR terms will align with the terms of the current panel. Thus DRs elected during this panel will serve until 12/31/24.

TORI For those unaware, DR’s serve a 3 year term, the term is set by the Area your District is in, not by the anniversary of when you took the position

* Because 57% of the GEA groups do not have a GR, it is recommended that districts include a mix of groups that have and do not have a GR, so as to avoid inadvertently creating districts in which none of the groups have a GR.

TORI Experienced members in each district, that is a healthy move. In my experience, many of the Electronic groups were started in Covid and no longer exist, or as a hybrid they have not broken away from their ftf, and gotten a GR of their own.

* The UTC meeting start times displayed in the electronic meetings list on al-anon.org <http://al-anon.org/> <http://al-anon.org/> are to be the primary consideration for sorting groups into districts. Language and platform will have the next highest priority followed by language.

TORI We have to start somewhere. If we/GEA members, want to have a voice and a vote, we need a platform to speak from. Forming the districts will give us a voice and a vote.

* To promote unity and understanding in the GEA, each district where possible will include a mix of at least two platforms.

TORI Diversity is something we have always embraced and it’s part of Tradition 1, Unity, the greatest good for the greatest number. We can learn as we go and we can learn from each other.

The primary means of sorting groups into district will be based on meeting start times, and those will be mapped to UTC - Coordinated Universal time.  The Task force had a pie chart that broke the world into these "buckets" - a great visual that was not shared with GRs to bring back to their groups.   And while, I don't have the pie chart that illustrated how the groups would be mapped to districts, this site has helpful information UTC Time Standard (timeanddate.com <http://timeanddate.com/><http://timeanddate.com/>) [1]

The taskforce used the KBDM process to put together their recommendation, the same process used in this meeting It is not perfect but it is a start. For us as an email meeting that meets 24/7, our placement into a district that is based on UTC and meeting start times will be tricky.  I haven't really heard much about how that will work for the 24/7 groups and there is still the question of accessibility for those groups that are not English, French or Spanish speaking.  Again, the plan is not perfect but is a start and one that I am sure will be refined over time.

TORI Al-Anon started in Bill W’s office. We now own property in VA. I believe Al-Anon is doing its best to keep up with the times. 

TORI The business of Al-Anon, Al-Anon org, Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., the WSO have a job to do. There is always so much more to performing a job than 99% of us see, know of, or can imagine. The structure is already in place. I trust it, it has served me well. I will continue to do so.

TORI This is what I know, nothing is written in stone. Districting can be changed after the fact and I trust that it will be if needed.

TORI The question at hand is what vote will our GR Anne, bring to the January 20th assembly. Are we in agreement with GEA starting the process of districting as noted above or do we want to start all over with a new task force?

TORI I vote yes. Let’s start now, where we are. This will give our Electronic membership a voice and a vote on this very complicated, much needed, endeavor. We have to start somewhere. 

TORI I am thankful for everyone who has stepped up to help find a way to make Al-Anon even more all-inclusive.

TORI This is a link to our most recent member survey 2021. It looks like Al-Anon is reaching those who need our help and hopefully we will be reaching so many more as the GEA expands. https://al-anon.org/pdf/2021-MembershipSurvey.pdf

TORI A GR’s and DR’s job is to present the facts without bias. Anne has done an excellent job of this and I appreciate it!

With respect, Tori

Looking forward to a discussion on this topic.
Yours in Service,
Anne